Former No. 1 Azarenka Falls in First Match Since March
Victoria Azarenka returned to the court on Tuesday as she took on Italian Camilia Giorgi in the first round at the Aegon International. It was the Belarus native’s first match in more than three months as she has been dealing with a serious foot injury since January.
Her comeback was only brief, however, as Giorgi beat the former world number one 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the opening round at Eastbourne, Great Britain. The match lasted nearly three hours and eventually wore out Azarenka who has only played 11 matches in all of 2014.
Early on she showed signs of her old form, coming back from 2-4 down in the first set by winning four straight games to capture the opener.
The momentum would swing right back to the Italian as she reeled off the first five games of the second set, thanks to winners from each baseline that tested the injured foot of Azarenka. Giorgi would eventually close out the second set 6-3 to force a third.
Azarenka broke serve late in the third set to even up the deciding frame at five all, but then had her serve broken after a long point gave Giorgi the commanding 6-5 lead. Serving for the match, she smashed a forehand winner to put away Azarenka and advance into the second round.
“It was a great match. I really enjoyed it,” said Giorgi. “Today I was just focused on my game like always. I just tried to play aggressively out there, and that’s all.”
She now moves on to face Johanna Konta, a British wild card who beat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland on Tuesday.
A couple of Americans picked up significant victories on Tuesday at Eastbourne as well. Varvara Lepchenko knocked off China’s Zhang Shuai, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in their first round matchup, while Lauren Davis pushed into the second round by beating seventh-seeded Italian Sara Errani, 7-6(7-5), 6-2.
